Police Begin Mopping Up Arms & Ammunition In Imo

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

The Commissioner of  Police, Imo State, CP Abutu Yaro, has began the mopping up of arms and ammunition in the possession of criminal elements in the State.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the Police boss warned criminals in possession of firearms belonging to security agencies in the state to return them on or before 12th June 2021.

He said failure to comply with this directive, the Police would embark on mop-up of the arms at the expiration of the ultimatum and those caught with the weapons would face the full weight of the law.

CP Yaro made this known on Sunday while parading the bodies of five gunmen killed in Owerri on Sunday after repelling an attack on the Imo Police Command Headquarters.

Security forces, which carried out the operation, were made up of the Police, Military, and Department of State Security.
This was disclosed by the Police Public Relations Officer in charge of the Command, Mr. Bala Elkana. He said the hoodlums met their waterloo during a failed attempt to attack the Imo State Government House and Police Headquarters.

He said the gang, led by one of the deceased popularly known as “Dragon”, was responsible for the attacks on security personnel, Police facilities, and Government property in the state.

Mr. Elkana said a member of the gang was apprehended during the operation noting that confessional statement from the suspect led to the dislodgement of their camp in Ikeduru Local Government area of the state and subsequent freeing of a woman Police officer abducted by the gang on Tuesday last week.

The suspect, Stanley Osinachi, who hails from Mbieri in Mbaitoli Local Government area of Imo State, confessed to the crime noting that they were on a mission to attack security agencies before his men fell to the superior fire power of agencies.

Items recovered from the gang were two buses, four AK-47 rifles, locally made explosive devices, and charms.